Jakara Movement organizer Jaskeet Kaur joins MOVE the Valley’s leadership team
by Stacy Brandt
With midterm elections on the horizon and communities across the Central Valley facing growing barriers to civic participation, MOVE the Valley has expanded its leadership team to include Jaskeet Kaur, the coalition’s new Advocacy and Civic Engagement Specialist.
It’s a natural leap for Kaur, a longtime member and community organizer for MOVE’s core partner Jakara Movement, where she organized civic engagement efforts for the Punjabi Sikh community. The Fresno native brings experience in youth organizing and advocacy, along with a deep commitment to community-led solutions.
“I see a clear alignment with the work I have been doing and the vision of MOVE,” Kaur says. “I want to be strategically working alongside organizations that I wholeheartedly believe in and am inspired by. This role increases MOVE the Valley’s capacity to execute long-term systemic change in the region through policy advocacy.”
“California, and especially the Central Valley, is a powerful place to build these skills because we are surrounded by organizations that are on the ground, working to make life better for working-class people.”
Jaskeet Kaur, Advocacy and Civic Engagement Specialist, MOVE the Valley
MOVE the Valley (Mobilize, Organize, Vote, Empower) is a nonpartisan, multilingual, multiethnic and intergenerational coalition of grassroots organizations dedicated to advancing civic participation in California’s Central Valley.
“We’re ecstatic to welcome Jaskeet to our team,” says MOVE Executive Director Mai Thao. “Her deep ties to grassroots community work reflect a dedication and understanding that can’t be taught. Jaskeet’s expertise and experience will be a significant asset to elevating the coalition’s work and making impactful change in the region.”
Kaur says her goal for the new position is to ensure that local government is responsive to the needs of community members and residents. She plans to do that by building relationships with community leaders, local elected officals, state agencies, and other key partners in the San Joaquin Valley.
Kaur says she’s looking forward to several projects, including leading cohorts of young voters and women of color to become civically engaged professionals and sharing information gathered through the 2025 San Joaquin Valley Speaks Survey. MOVE partnered with the Data for Social Good (DSG) Foundation to conduct the survey—which gauges the top issues affecting families in August and September—last fall.
Her connection with the Jakara Movement goes back to childhood. She started going to day camps hosted by the organization at age 7. She got more involved as a student at Fresno State, where she became a leader in Jakara’s Sikh Collegiate Federation and joined the staff after graduating in 2020.
With the Jakara Movement, Kaur oversaw about a dozen chapters of the student enrichment-focused Sikh Honors & Service Society. In that role, she learned a lot about canvassing and supporting political campaigns.
Kaur’s experience with the Jakara Movement also includes engaging with school boards in Fresno County; rallying families to advocate for Punjabi language classes to be offered as a foreign language in the Clovis Unified School District; providing civic education to the Punjabi community on redistricting and the 2023 passage of a city of Fresno ordinance concerning caste and indigeneity; and organizing a 300-plus-mile march from Bakersfield to Sacramento to bring attention to transnational repression. Her activities with MOVE include participating in regional and local, in-language voter engagement campaigns.
Kaur is pursuing a master’s degree in public administration, exploring how institutions can better serve working families like the one she grew up in.
“California, and especially the Central Valley, is a powerful place to build these skills because we are surrounded by organizations that are on the ground, working to make life better for working-class people,” she says.
MOVE the Valley’s other partner organizations are Faith in the Valley, Hmong Innovating Politics, Community Water Center and Communities for a New California Education Fund. They work together to expand access to democracy, strengthen community leadership, and amplify the electoral voices of historically marginalized communities through coordinated outreach, education, and get-out-the-vote campaigns in nine counties in the San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento area.
Kaur notes this work is especially important heading into the 2026 midterm elections. MOVE the Valley is gearing up to play a decisive role in mobilizing voters, amplifying underrepresented perspectives and pushing for policies that deliver real equity and opportunity.
“With so much at stake and election outcomes shaping the very future of Valley families, MOVE the Valley is more unified and determined than ever,” Thao says. In this pivotal moment, our collective action is essential to securing a just and thriving future for our community.”
For more information about MOVE the Valley and its partner organizations, visit www.movethevalley.org.
